A recent publication by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reveals that a tow pilot’s distraction from personal cell phone use, coupled with fatigue, led to a serious incident on the lower Mississippi River last year. This event took place on April 17, 2024, when the towing vessel William B Klunk collided with stationary barges near Baton Rouge while pushing a fleet of 22 loaded hopper barges. The crash resulted in 13 barges breaking free from their tow and three more detaching from their mooring, causing extensive damage estimated at around $810,000.
Investigators discovered that for nearly six minutes before the collision, the pilot made no adjustments to either rudder or throttle.Footage from onboard cameras showed him engaged with his personal cell phone just 40 seconds prior to impact rather of keeping an eye on his vessel’s position. The NTSB emphasized that “cell phone usage should never compromise a watchstander’s primary responsibility of safely navigating and maintaining vigilance over a vessel.”
Fatigue was another critical factor in this incident; it was found that the pilot had only managed about four hours of sleep over the previous day and had been awake for almost 18 hours leading up to the crash. The report highlighted how fatigue can significantly impair attention and multitasking abilities: “When someone is tired, they are more likely to lose focus on their main task and get sidetracked by secondary activities.”
This collision is part of an alarming trend in maritime accidents linked to distractions from electronic devices and crew exhaustion. The NTSB has looked into several similar incidents recently—like last year’s allision involving the towing vessel John 3:16 hitting a pier on the Lower Mississippi River or another case where bulk carrier Bunun Queen collided with offshore supply ship Thunder in Gulf waters. In both cases, officers were distracted by personal devices or non-navigational tasks which hindered their ability to maintain proper lookout.
For those interested in diving deeper into this examination’s findings, you can check out Marine Investigation Report 25-26 for extensive details.
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